Shooting Stars
by cassandralake
Summary: Ginny finds herself alone in the astronomy tower, but who should find her? And is he really the boy she thinks he is? - This is my first ever fanfiction. It started by accident and was an unplanned free written thing. Hope you enjoy!


The Gryffindor common room seemed colder tonight. Ginny didn't know if it was the winter air that rattled at the windows, begging to intrude, or the fire just not being hot enough. Maybe it was her. Maybe it was her who was cold. She felt cold on the inside. How could someone feel so alone?

Deciding she could take it no longer, she rose from her chair and marched up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. As she opened the door, shrills of girly laughter filled her ears, but instead of being comforted by this sound, it only made her feel more cold. She quickly grabbed her jumper from the foot of her bed and exited the room again. When she re-entered the common room she found it empty apart from a few first years sat in front of the fire playing a rather noisy game of wizards chess.

She soon slipped, unseen, out of the common room and into the 7th floor corridor. Not sure where she wanted to go or even what she wanted to do, she pulled the jumper over her head. It was too big. This new jumper she'd just received for christmas was bright orange with a big green "G" on the front and it buried Ginny. Her mother had insisted she'd grow into it and that since she'd so much outgrown her last one her mother had taken extra care to give this one more room. Ginny thought this was a stupid idea. Sure, she had grown, but she was becoming a woman. Or at least, she wished she was. She'd gotten taller, but all the other girls seemed to have grown too. In all sorts of places. When she returned from the summer holidays it was like all the girls she'd waved goodbye to at King's Cross at the end of last year had gone away and sent new, beautiful women in their places. All with wide, curvy hips and long sleek legs and big chests. Ginny looked down at herself buried in the jumper. You wouldn't even be able to tell she had a chest in this thing, she thought. The christmas holidays only ended a week ago and already Ginny felt exhausted from school. She wanted to curl up in her own bed back at the burrow with her teddy and feel like a little girl again, since it seemed she'd never become a beautiful and sexy young woman.

She wandered through corridors and up and down stairs, watching all the women in the portraits that lined the walls. They all smiled and laughed and the men smiled at them. Why didn't the boys smile at Ginny? Because those women in the paintings were beautiful and Ginny was not, she thought. "Shouldn't you be in bed? A little girl like you?" came a voice from behind Ginny. She whipped round defensively to see a large painting full of men and women dancing, smiling, laughing and drinking. "Well, girly? It's late, you know?" Ginny blinked her eyes a few times until she picked out the man talking. He was laughing and smiling with the others, and a little merry with wine. Ginny thought he was no one to tell her how late it was. "I am not a LITTLE GIRL! I am a woman!" Ginny shouted, to which all the surrounding portraits looked at her in shock. Ginny looked around. It WAS late and she shouldn't have been out of the common room and now she had just shouted, drawing attention to herself from the portraits and possibly from Filch. Tears welling up in her eyes, she ran blindly away from the portrait that held the man she had shouted at. "Cries like a little girl, if you ask me" remarked one of the other men in the portrait.

After running for a few minutes, Ginny had found herself tired and out of breath from crying and stopped. She used one of the sleeves of her jumper that hung so low over her hands and wiped her face. Panting slightly from the running and the crying, she leant against one of the walls. She looked down to see one of her slippers had caught on something as she'd been running and had ripped open. She pulled them both off in a huff and threw them to the floor before slumping down against the wall. She watched the wall across from her and examined the large shadows that were cast by the dim moonlight. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow flicker. It was the shadow of a cat. Mrs Norris. Ginny jumped up and grabbed her slippers and quickly sunk into the shadows and darted off in the opposite direction. The first door she came to she tried to open. It was locked. She took out her wand and tried to remember the spell Hermione had taught her during the summer. Hermione had always been so much smarter than her, and after her appearance at the Yule Ball last year, no one had failed to notice just how beautiful she was.

"Alohomora" Ginny whispered and quickly opened the door and slipped through. She shut the door behind her, plunging herself into darkness. Before her eyes could focus she lifted her wand and muttered "lumos". She was at the foot of a staircase. Ginny tried to remember where she'd run and which corridor she'd just left behind. She figured she must be at the astronomy tower. Finding no other option, she ascended the stairs.

Even the astronomy tower was beautiful. And the stars shone beautifully too. Ginny opened a trunk and grabbed one of the blankets from inside. A few years ago some students got ill from being too cold during an astronomy lesson, so Dumbledore had insisted a trunk full of blankets be added to the equipment. She lay the blanket on the cold floor and sat down. She gazed up at the stars, in awe of how much more beautiful they were than her. After a while, as her neck started to ache, she lay back and eventually fell asleep.

"Oh"

Ginny woke at this sound and confused, turned to see what it was. At the top of the stairs stood a boy, but the stairs were cast in darkness and all she could make out was a slight silhouette. In her confusion she began to blurt out an apology "Sorry, I know I shouldn't be up here, I mean, it's just I, Im sorry, and urm, well it's just that I-" the boy sighed a small laugh. Ginny recognised the laugh. It wasn't too familiar, but she knew it somewhere. This was a student. She began to stand up. "You shouldn't be here either, though"

"I wont tell if you wont" Malfoy. It was Draco Malfoy. She knew instantly from his voice, but the lack of threat or menace in his voice confused her. He stepped out from the shadows and into the moonlight. The moon and the starlight shone brilliantly on his blonde hair and twinkled in his grey eyes. He was smiling. It looked sincere. Not evil or cruel or sarcastic. Ginny wasn't sure if she'd ever seen that before. Realising she was halfway off the ground, she continued to get up. "No, don't get up and leave because of me." Still confused, Ginny ignored him and got up. Draco, however went to the trunk and grabbed another blanket. He sat down on the blanket Ginny had laid out and wrapped the new one around himself. He pulled out a flask from beneath his cloak and screwed off the lid. He set it down a little way in front of him and watched the steam rise from it. As he watched it, Ginny watched him. And as the steam rose, so did his gaze, until he was looking up at Ginny.

They both looked at each other, both a little confused by the other's presence. Finally, not really wanting to leave, Ginny spoke up. "Going to offer me some of that then?" she bent forward to grab the flask. "I wouldn't if I were you. It's hot" Draco laughed. What was wrong with him? Why was he... normal? Ginny grabbed the flask, ignoring Draco's comment with a grin. "I know that, I'm not stupid, but I can take a small sip, it'll be fine." Ginny lifted the flask to her lips and took a small sip. Draco watched her, smiling slightly. Ginny's eyes widened slightly and then her face composed. She set the flask down back in front of Draco and slumped herself on the blanket next to him. "Burnt your tongue, didn't you?" Draco laughed. "No" Ginny retorted, embarassed. Draco smiled at her as her cheeks turned red. "Yes you did, don't lie" Ginny glared at him, annoyed that she was feeling so stupid. "You did it on purpose didn't you Malfoy?" At this Draco laughed again and shook his head. He stopped laughing and tried to respond, but just began laughing again. "It's not nice to laugh at people's pain, you know. It's quite rude" Ginny crossed her arms angrily, though she knew she was really angry at herself and not Draco. "I didn't do it on purpose, I TOLD you not to drink it. And I wasn't laughing at your pain, I was laughing at you blaming me after I told you it was hot." Draco smiled at Ginny and Ginny found herself smiling back. Feeling a little strange at the thought of smiling at Draco, she looked up at the stars again. Still beautiful. She envied those stars. Even Draco managed to somehow capture their beauty. The starlight had twinkled in his eyes. She envied Draco.

"It's Draco, by the way" he said finally, breaking the silence. Ginny looked at him confused, but he didn't see her reaction as he too was gazing up at the stars. But instead of being envious he was smiling. He looked happy. "I know what your name is" Draco sighed another laugh to himself and shook his head. "Well use it then. My name is Draco, not Malfoy. Got it, Weasley?" He laughed again and this time even Ginny couldn't stop herself from grinning. "It's Ginny, actually!" She retorted and at this he laughed even more. "I know your name 'Ginny Actually' " Ginny rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a smile. "Just Ginny will do. And not 'just Ginny' just 'Ginny' okay?" She glared at him, grinning a little, daring her to challenge her. Draco sighed defeat and replied, "okay. The hot chocolates probably cooled down enough to drink now. Do you want some?" Draco picked up the flask and peered into it, only very small wisps of steam rising from it now and escaping into the cool air. "No thanks, I don't trust it" Ginny pretended to glare angrily at the flask but soon found herself in giggles. Draco just smiled and blew into the flask before taking a sip. "Yep. Cool enough now. Nice and warm, too. Are you sure you don't want any?" Draco set the flask down in front of her. Ginny eyed it suspiciously before turning to Draco shaking her head. "Nope. My tongue still hurts. Look!" and she stuck her tongue out and pointed at it. Draco dropped his face into his hands to try to muffle his great laughter. Feeling like the most stupid and silly little girl in the world, Ginny put her tongue back in her mouth and went to get up. Draco reached out and grabbed her arm. "No" he laughed again. "Sorry, please don't go" he took deep breaths trying to stop himself laughing. "I'm not laughing AT you. I'm just laughing at how funny you looked when you stuck your tongue out." Draco smiled up at Ginny reassuringly and pulled at her arm, but Ginny still felt stupid. "I look funny, do I?" at this she gave into his pulling and slumped back down, but instead of sitting next to him she pulled her arm from his grasp and shuffled as far away as she could without leaving the blanket. She pulled her knees up to her chest and began to cry. Draco sat wide eyed, not sure how to take this reaction. Between her sobs he could hear her mutter things to herself. He could only make out the odd word.

"Stupid"

"Girl"

"Childish"

"Fat"

"Ugly"

At this last word Draco approached her. "Ugly? Really? That's what you're calling yourself? Stupid, childish, fat and ugly? And as for girl, I should hope you are a girl Ginny Weasley!" he put his hand on her shoulder but she quickly shrugged it off. "I don't want to be a girl, I want to be a woman. A beautiful woman. One who can be as beautiful as these stars!" She started sobbing again. Draco closed his eyes for a moment and took deep breaths as he decided on what to do. He pulled her arm from around her knees and she jerked her head away, but he grabbed her and as his hand touched her face she stopped. She didn't want him to force her, so she turned to face him, but his hand still didn't leave her face. "Who said you weren't beautiful? Who said these stars are more beautiful than you or that you can't be as beautiful as them?" Ginny glanced up at the stars and then at Draco again. The stars twinkled in his eyes as they looked straight into hers. She shook her head. "No one, but-"

"But nothing." Draco smiled. "Now how's that tongue of yours? Cause I think you need some hot chocolate." Draco reached over to grab the flask, stretching and looking rather funny in the process, though Ginny couldn't help but smile at him as he did so. He handed her the flask and glared at her until she drank. It was lovely. The warmth filled her up almost instantly. She handed the flask back to him and he finished the drink before setting the empty flask down behind him. "Now, show me your tongue. How is it?" Ginny clasped her hands over her mouth and shook her head violently but Draco just grinned. He pulled her hands away from her mouth and she muttered 'NO's in between fits of laughing. He took her chin in one of his hands. "Show me your tongue now Miss Weasley or it'll be 10 points from Gryffindor!" he said mockingly trying to sound important but instead just laughing and giggling. "It's Ginny! We've been over this. It's Ginny! Not Weasley!" They both fell about laughing. "Alright then GINNY, now I've called you that, show me your tongue!" Ginny glanced up at the stars trying not to laugh and deciding whether to do as he said, then turned and stuck her tongue out at him. Draco stuck his tongue out too and they both started laughing. Draco lay back on the blanket as he tried to stop laughing at steady his breathing. Ginny, still laughing, looked down at him. He looked beautiful. She lay back too. Not to catch her breath, but to stop herself looking at him and grinning.

Once they'd both stopped laughing, Draco turned on his side to face Ginny. "Miss Weasley, I mean, Ginny?" Ginny turned her head to look at him and saw his eyes still twinkling. She smiled at him. "Yes Malfoy, I mean, Draco?" Draco sighed a small laugh and shook his head, but still smiled. "Why do you think you're not beautiful? Has someone said something or-" Draco's voice trailed off, not sure what to say and a little confused as to why Ginny was so upset. "Because all the other girls are so pretty, they have the perfect hair or the perfect bodies or" she looked at his eyes, still shining. "Or the perfect eyes. And all the boys look at them. They have this look, like, they think she's beautiful and they never look at me. They never look at me like that. Because I don't have the perfect hair or eyes or body" Not even having the energy to move her head to turn away from him, Ginny closed her eyes. She felt so embarrassed. She had just told Draco Malfoy about how ugly she was. And what was he going to say? All he could do is agree. Right?

Draco stared up at the stars for a minute. Sometimes trying to speak but then the words would just catch in his throat. After a few minutes he took his hand and placed it on the side of her face. She opened her eyes, but seeing his beautiful eyes made her feel even more inferior and ugly, so she quickly shut them and began sobbing quietly. "But you are pretty. I mean-" Draco paused, shocked that he had said this out loud. He took a deep breath. "you are, and you do have the perfect hair." He took a strand of her hair and began twiddling it around his fingers like fire was dancing on his fingertips. Ginny lifted her hand to cover her face but Draco let go of her hand and took her hand and moved it away. He brushed his thumb over her eyelids. "And you talk about how all these girls have beautiful eyes and how you want to be as beautiful as these stars, but all night your eyes have been twinkling with those stars, looking beautiful" Ginny opened her eyes and saw his twinkling beautiful eyes. Did he know that's what she could see? Did he see it in her eyes too? "How many of those girls have that? And..." he slowly, a little unsure, put his hand on her waist. "And what's all this nonsense about being fat? You're not fat at all. You're beautiful. You worry about not having a perfect body but-" He smiled and shook his head, almost in disbelief. He moved his hand down and found the bottom of her jumper, pulling it up. He ran his hand up and placed it on her back. Instead of being cold, like she expected, it was warm and soft. "You're body is perfect and beautiful, and you don't need to worry about any of it all." he pulled her closer and ran his fingers in circular patterns on her back. "And one very important thing you forgot to mention, is the smile. You've got a brilliant smile. Even when you sleep" They both smiled gingerly, remembering how he'd found her asleep. "And that beautiful smile and those beautiful lips, you're just" he paused, and took a deep breath, a little scared of what he was about to say. He kissed her. "Beautiful" She whispered as he pulled away. They both smiled at each other for a moment. "Exactly" and he pulled her in and kissed her again. Again, she had expected his lips to be cold, but just like his hand, they were soft, warm and inviting.

As his fingers still danced in those circular patterns on her back, she suddenly felt a jerk in her back as he accidentally tickled her. Her mouth opened as she gasped and his tongue invaded her mouth. What she expected to find weird and a little gross she found she liked a lot. She slipped her arms into his cloak and around his back and pushed her hands under his shirt. His skin was hot and she pulled at the small of his back, bringing him closer to her, trying to close every gap between them. Draco smiled, reassured by her actions as he carried on kissing her.

Suddenly Ginny started laughing. Draco raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. She noticed and began to explain. "I came up here running from Filch because I'd snuck out because I was upset about this whole 'ugly' thing, but why did you come up here?" Draco's face suddenly flushed red. And Ginny began laughing again. "Well... erm... I sort of..." he covered his face with his hands, but Ginny pulled them away and kissed him on the nose. "Well... I've been coming up here since we got back from Christmas. I'd learnt about this muggle tradition. If they see a shooting star they make a wish and it's supposed to come true. I've been looking for shooting stars. There was one last night. And I made a wish and... well..." Now it was Ginny's turn to raise the eyebrow quizzically. Draco laughed. "I wished that I could find a way to tell you how I feel. And I thought it hadn't worked, so I came back tonight to try again." Ginny laughed and kissed him again, pulling him closer and running her hands all over his perfect body. "Seems like the muggles have a little magic after all" Both of them smiled. Draco noticed streaks of light beginning to fill the sky. "Sunrise. It's sunrise" Ginny jumped up and ran for the stairs. "I've got to get back!" Draco ran after her and grabbed her hand. "Wait. Watch the sunrise with me. And then you can go." Draco looked into her eyes, and even though the stars were gone, his eyes were still beautiful and twinkling. "Okay" she sighed and he held her hand as they watched the sunrise. As soon as the sun had risen, Draco pulled Ginny in for one last kiss and held her face in his hands. "Now go on Miss Weasley, you don't want to be late!" He laughed and she ran down the stairs giggling.


End file.
